Likely political platforms for future parties

[WalterWhite]

Over the past decade, there have been shifts from both Republicans and Democrats on many policies. Most of these have come in response to the disaster of the Bush 43 Presidency, but some have come at the increasing salience of left-wing movements as the fears of any left-wing movement (socialism, communism, or anarchism) fade into the sunset.

With fading apatite for laissez-faire capitalism and interventionist foreign policy, combined with the progressiveness of the youth, we will likely see a major leftward and dovish shift for both parties. While there will be economic and social dividing lines, the more prominent dividing lines in the future will probably be with regards to foreign policy and technology.

Points of agreement:
* Economic policy: Support redistribution of wealth, increase minimum wage and funding for existing social programs, and raise taxes for the wealthy
* Progressive social policy (2): Support Equal Rights Amendment, reparations for communities affected by redlining, full protections for LGBT citizens, and a fully secular government
* Foreign policy: Support cutting military bases, cutting military funding, protectionism, and avoid sending troops into foreign conflict

Democrats:
* Socialist economic policy: Support turning businesses into worker co-ops, $25/hr minimum wage, the decommodification of land and water, free healthcare and higher education for all, complete student loan forgiveness, and universal basic income
* Hard-line environmental policy: Support nationalizing the energy industries, swift transitioning away from fossil fuels to nuclear and renewable energy, abolition of zoning laws, and more government investment in infrastructure (lending itself to the YIMBY types)
* Monetary policy: Preserve the centralized fiat US dollar
* Pacifist social policy (1): Support increased gun control, disarming police, and increased access to bulletproof vests
* Progressive social policy (2): Support abolishing private prisons and rehabilitative justice
* Intersectional feminist social attitudes: Support gender and racial constructivism, the dismantling of gender roles, and income inequality between races and genders
* Globalist foreign policy: Support a stronger United Nations, global economic development, foreign aid, open borders, and active involvement in diplomatic negotiations
* Semi-technophilic technological policy: Support automation with tight restrictions (e.g. a cap on the percentage of the work that can be done by automation)
* Attitude towards science: Complete trust in the scientific consensus

Republicans:
* Social democrat economic policy: Support maintaining status quo with unions, $15/hr minimum wage, public option for Obamacare, partial student loan forgiveness, and lower taxes for the middle class
* Moderate environmental policy: Support investing in renewable energy, increasing environmental regulations and carbon taxes, expand offshore drilling, stronger zoning laws, and stopping infrastructure projects (lending itself to the NIMBY types)
* Monetary policy: Switch to the decentralized Bitcoin
* Anti-pacifist social policy (1): Support looser gun control and increasing police arms
* Moderate/conservative social policy (2): Support a mix of punitive and rehabilitative justice
* Anti-feminist social attitudes: Support gender and racial essentialism, the preservation of gender roles, and allowing different races and genders to dominate different industries
* Nationalist foreign policy: Support pulling out of NATO, little to no involvement in foreign affairs, closed borders, and deportation of all illegal immigrants
* Luddite technological policy: Support an outright ban on automation
* Attitude towards science: Willing to deviate from the scientific consensus on many issues

NOTE: Even in this scenario, the parties do not switch. The Republicans are still to the right of Democrats. The country just moves to the left.

[Upper Canada Tory]

I struggle to understand the fixation with Republicans having a 'socially conservative and fiscally leftist' platform. I also think that if the platforms you presented became the platforms of both parties in the US, it wouldn't be seen a social democratic vs socialist - instead, it would instead be seen as being left of centre or right of centre relative to the political norms of the country, the same way it is viewed in social democracies like Sweden and Finland despite the centre of those places being to the left of that of the US. I also think it's unlikely that protectionism or reduced foreign intervention will become bipartisan ideals - polls show the opposite is actually popular and it has remained the same for a while. Plus, the American state needs to defend its interests. Republicans wanting to switch to bitcoin also sounds like a long shot because fiat currency is sort of essential to the type of economy Republicans want to maintain. Ban on automation is the dumbest thing ever.

Abolishing zoning sounds extremely based though. Just saying.

[WalterWhite]

I struggle to understand the fixation with Republicans having a 'socially conservative and fiscally leftist' platform. I also think that if the platforms you presented became the platforms of both parties in the US, it wouldn't be seen a social democratic vs socialist - instead, it would instead be seen as being left of centre or right of centre relative to the political norms of the country, the same way it is viewed in social democracies like Sweden and Finland despite the centre of those places being to the left of that of the US. I also think it's unlikely that protectionism or reduced foreign intervention will become bipartisan ideals - polls show the opposite is actually popular and it has remained the same for a while. Republicans wanting to switch to bitcoin also sounds like a long shot because fiat currency is sort of essential to the type of economy Republicans want to maintain.

Abolishing zoning sounds extremely based though. Just saying.

Relative to our current political alignments, Republicans would have a fiscally progressive and a socially progressive platform in this scenario. Republicans are still to the right of Democrats on social and economic issues. Conservative and progressive are just relative terms here.

[Upper Canada Tory]

I struggle to understand the fixation with Republicans having a 'socially conservative and fiscally leftist' platform. I also think that if the platforms you presented became the platforms of both parties in the US, it wouldn't be seen a social democratic vs socialist - instead, it would instead be seen as being left of centre or right of centre relative to the political norms of the country, the same way it is viewed in social democracies like Sweden and Finland despite the centre of those places being to the left of that of the US. I also think it's unlikely that protectionism or reduced foreign intervention will become bipartisan ideals - polls show the opposite is actually popular and it has remained the same for a while. Republicans wanting to switch to bitcoin also sounds like a long shot because fiat currency is sort of essential to the type of economy Republicans want to maintain.

Abolishing zoning sounds extremely based though. Just saying.

Relative to our current political alignments, Republicans would have a fiscally progressive and a socially progressive platform in this scenario. Republicans are still to the right of Democrats on social and economic issues. Conservative and progressive are just relative terms here.

I'm aware. I'm just contextualizing what such a society would describe these ideas politically.

[Vice President Christian Man]

Over the past decade, there have been shifts from both Republicans and Democrats on many policies. Most of these have come in response to the disaster of the Bush 43 Presidency, but some have come at the increasing salience of left-wing movements as the fears of any left-wing movement (socialism, communism, or anarchism) fade into the sunset.

With fading apatite for laissez-faire capitalism and interventionist foreign policy, combined with the progressiveness of the youth, we will likely see a major leftward and dovish shift for both parties. While there will be economic and social dividing lines, the more prominent dividing lines in the future will probably be with regards to foreign policy and technology.

Points of agreement:
* Economic policy: Support redistribution of wealth, increase minimum wage and funding for existing social programs, and raise taxes for the wealthy
* Progressive social policy (2): Support Equal Rights Amendment, reparations for communities affected by redlining, full protections for LGBT citizens, and a fully secular government
* Foreign policy: Support cutting military bases, cutting military funding, protectionism, and avoid sending troops into foreign conflict

Democrats:
* Socialist economic policy: Support turning businesses into worker co-ops, $25/hr minimum wage, the decommodification of land and water, free healthcare and higher education for all, complete student loan forgiveness, and universal basic income
* Hard-line environmental policy: Support nationalizing the energy industries, swift transitioning away from fossil fuels to nuclear and renewable energy, abolition of zoning laws, and more government investment in infrastructure (lending itself to the YIMBY types)
* Monetary policy: Preserve the centralized fiat US dollar
* Pacifist social policy (1): Support increased gun control, disarming police, and increased access to bulletproof vests
* Progressive social policy (2): Support abolishing private prisons and rehabilitative justice
* Intersectional feminist social attitudes: Support gender and racial constructivism, the dismantling of gender roles, and income inequality between races and genders
* Globalist foreign policy: Support a stronger United Nations, global economic development, foreign aid, open borders, and active involvement in diplomatic negotiations
* Semi-technophilic technological policy: Support automation with tight restrictions (e.g. a cap on the percentage of the work that can be done by automation)
* Attitude towards science: Complete trust in the scientific consensus

Republicans:
* Social democrat economic policy: Support maintaining status quo with unions, $15/hr minimum wage, public option for Obamacare, partial student loan forgiveness, and lower taxes for the middle class
* Moderate environmental policy: Support investing in renewable energy, increasing environmental regulations and carbon taxes, expand offshore drilling, stronger zoning laws, and stopping infrastructure projects (lending itself to the NIMBY types)
* Monetary policy: Switch to the decentralized Bitcoin
* Anti-pacifist social policy (1): Support looser gun control and increasing police arms
* Moderate/conservative social policy (2): Support a mix of punitive and rehabilitative justice
* Anti-feminist social attitudes: Support gender and racial essentialism, the preservation of gender roles, and allowing different races and genders to dominate different industries
* Nationalist foreign policy: Support pulling out of NATO, little to no involvement in foreign affairs, closed borders, and deportation of all illegal immigrants
* Luddite technological policy: Support an outright ban on automation
* Attitude towards science: Willing to deviate from the scientific consensus on many issues

NOTE: Even in this scenario, the parties do not switch. The Republicans are still to the right of Democrats. The country just moves to the left.

I doubt that either the Dems will become majority socialist or the Reps will become majority social democrat until most of the boomers have died out which will take a few decades. And even then I feel like it would be regionalized. A JD Vance or Josh Hawley type of candidate isn't going to be as strong in a state like Arizona, while I anticipate that many suburbanites would be slower to pick a Socialist although the 2022 senate election proved me wrong which says one of two things. Either suburbanites are moderating on economic issues or the GOP is becoming insane. For example, look at Marjorie Taylor Greene who is on track to become Speaker Of The House depending on how long she decides to remain in Congress. She attacked Biden for reducing rural poverty which sounds a lot more like fiscal conservatism than the leftward shift that some have speculated/hoped would happen.  I think they'll be more Dems/Reps that fit your category but also keep in mind that the War in Ukraine has led many foreign policy moderates to change their minds so it's possible that the GOP could return to a hawkish foreign policy although still nationalistic depending on how the war effort goes.

[WalterWhite]

I wonder what the election maps would look like if the parties adopted these platforms.

[Reactionary Libertarian]

I don’t know what’s more unlikely, Democrats becoming socialists or Republicans becoming social democrats. Either way it’s not happening. There will always be demand for fiscally conservative policies, especially in the US. It is far more likely that the unsustainable debt, not just by the federal government but also by state and local governments, pushes fiscal policy to the right, if only out of necessity.

“Full protections for LGBT citizens” is a vague statement. It’s true that gay marriage isn’t going anywhere, and it’s possible an anti-discrimination bill could be passed. But if you mean the current Democrat consensus on issues like LGBT in school and childhood transition and “pregnant people”, no. The Dem position is extremely unpopular and opposed by many “progressive” European countries so why would Republicans adopt it?

As for the GOP adopting student loan forgiveness or reparations… LOL no. No chance. Student loan forgiveness is a regressive policy aimed ad the Dems’ base so why would the GOP adopt it. Even if they moved left on economics presumably they would still be the party of non-college educated people. As for reparations… it’s supported by nobody except black people. It’s more likely the issue turns into “defund the police” for Dems after they start supporting it than Republicans do in any form.

I also find it hard to believe that either party will support cutting military bases. And the YIMBY movement doesn’t really mesh with kind of socialism you envision for the Democrats. The GOP platform is completely incoherent- bitcoin, reparations, and no word on moving left on abortion of all issues? All in all, this is one of the most delusional predictions I’ve ever read. I can believe the country is moving left, but there’s a huge difference between that and one of the major parties becoming socialist.

[EastwoodS]

Republicans taking my hard earned money and telling me I deserve less right as a a LGBT citizen is a sure way to make sure I never vote for them again. reduced income taxes and social far-left policy is actually the way of the future. The only freaks that care about social conservatism are dying in nursing homes or living under rocks

[RINO Tom]

Republicans taking my hard earned money and telling me I deserve less right as a a LGBT citizen is a sure way to make sure I never vote for them again. reduced taxes for singles making under 500k and couples making under 1 million dollars and social far-left policy is actually the way of the future. The only freaks that care about social conservatism are dying in nursing homes or living under rocks

Like literally, what does this even mean...?

[WalterWhite]

Republicans taking my hard earned money and telling me I deserve less right as a a LGBT citizen is a sure way to make sure I never vote for them again. reduced taxes for singles making under 500k and couples making under 1 million dollars and social far-left policy is actually the way of the future. The only freaks that care about social conservatism are dying in nursing homes or living under rocks

Like literally, what does this even mean...?

I think they are trying to say that social conservatives heavily skew older compared to the general public in a hyperbolic way.

[EastwoodS]

Republicans taking my hard earned money and telling me I deserve less right as a a LGBT citizen is a sure way to make sure I never vote for them again. reduced taxes for singles making under 500k and couples making under 1 million dollars and social far-left policy is actually the way of the future. The only freaks that care about social conservatism are dying in nursing homes or living under rocks

Like literally, what does this even mean...?

is your brain broken or? its very very clear what I'm saying...

[wnwnwn]

At some point, homosexual marriage will generally be accepted by the majority of both parties. Meanwhile, republicans will continue pushing bans on transgender hormonal therapy on minors. Maybe democrats will support that too at some point.
On economics, republicans won't campaing again on "reforming" Social Security. Meanwhile, the discussion on healthcare will continue.
On energy, one party will embrace nuclear at some point. Democrats would likely be that party, unless a particular popular republican start vocally supporting it.
Isolationism tendences will increase as the last Cold War era politicians (like Biden) retire.

[dw93]

Healthcare: Republicans treat Obamacare as a settled issue and run on maintaining the status quo while Democrats fully rally behind Medicare for all.

Unions: Both parties are pro union but support different unions. Republicans  begin to embrace labor unions (electricians, pipefitters, hvac, etc...) to maintain gains with working class voters.  Meanwhile Democrats continue to support the teacher's unions and support increasing unionization of retail/customer service workers and warehouse workers. Both parties support the UAW in one form or another. The Republicans become more anti police unions and Democrats demand reforms in order for them to support police unions.

Trade/Manufacturing: The Republicans go full on protectionist while the Democrats become the party of "Fair trade."  Both parties support increasing manufacturing at home as a National security issue, but one becomes more in favor of AI/automation than the other. Unsure as to which party would become more pro automation than the other. On the one hand I can see Democrats taxing the hell out of the profits of corporations that go the AI route to deter it, while Republicans offer tax credits to corporations that don't go automated.

Foreign policy: Republicans become more open about pulling the US out of the UN and NATO and in general undermining those and other international institutions. Having said that, they don't become more dovish or anti interventionalist and they'll still be more than happy to blindly give handouts to defense contractors and bomb a few third world countries or unilaterally invade them in the name of "showing strength."  They continue to become Pro Russia and become less hawkish on China. Democrats more or less stay as they are while becoming more hawkish against China. Both parties have big divides on the Israel vs. Palestine conflict.

Social Issues/crime: The "woke" stuff ends up costing the Democrats a very crucial election sometime between 2028 and 2036, forcing them to moderate on this issue. The Democrats also get tougher on crime as more far right groups commit acts of political violence, beating the Republicans over the head on the issue. Abortion ends up being for Republicans what "woke" ends up being for Democrats, costing them a crucial elections, forcing them to moderate and at the very least openly support the basic exceptions. Republicans go back to 2016 in a sense of treating gay marriage and gay/lesbian rights in general as settled issues, while still toeing the hardline on trans rights and issues. Democrats stay as they are on LGBT issues.

Taxes/Spending: Current status quo remains.

[MarkD]

If by platforms you mean those documents written once every two or four years at national conventions, don't bother paying any attention to them, because they are basically irrelevant documents. They are nothing more than masturbation for the platform writers. Nobody can ever make all members of the party adhere to every plank in those platforms. Party platforms are the phoniest kind of campaign promises there are -- a false promise that their party is united behind every plank, which is never completely true. For example, in 2016, the Democrat Party platform explicitly stated that their party was opposed to the death penalty, yet Hilary Clinton herself said in an interview that she did not agree with that plank, she supports the death penalty. Every politician has a platform of his or her own.

[Vice President Christian Man]

Healthcare: Republicans treat Obamacare as a settled issue and run on maintaining the status quo while Democrats fully rally behind Medicare for all.

Unions: Both parties are pro union but support different unions. Republicans  begin to embrace labor unions (electricians, pipefitters, hvac, etc...) to maintain gains with working class voters.  Meanwhile Democrats continue to support the teacher's unions and support increasing unionization of retail/customer service workers and warehouse workers. Both parties support the UAW in one form or another. The Republicans become more anti police unions and Democrats demand reforms in order for them to support police unions.

Trade/Manufacturing: The Republicans go full on protectionist while the Democrats become the party of "Fair trade."  Both parties support increasing manufacturing at home as a National security issue, but one becomes more in favor of AI/automation than the other. Unsure as to which party would become more pro automation than the other. On the one hand I can see Democrats taxing the hell out of the profits of corporations that go the AI route to deter it, while Republicans offer tax credits to corporations that don't go automated.

Foreign policy: Republicans become more open about pulling the US out of the UN and NATO and in general undermining those and other international institutions. Having said that, they don't become more dovish or anti interventionalist and they'll still be more than happy to blindly give handouts to defense contractors and bomb a few third world countries or unilaterally invade them in the name of "showing strength."  They continue to become Pro Russia and become less hawkish on China. Democrats more or less stay as they are while becoming more hawkish against China. Both parties have big divides on the Israel vs. Palestine conflict.

Social Issues/crime: The "woke" stuff ends up costing the Democrats a very crucial election sometime between 2028 and 2036, forcing them to moderate on this issue. The Democrats also get tougher on crime as more far right groups commit acts of political violence, beating the Republicans over the head on the issue. Abortion ends up being for Republicans what "woke" ends up being for Democrats, costing them a crucial elections, forcing them to moderate and at the very least openly support the basic exceptions. Republicans go back to 2016 in a sense of treating gay marriage and gay/lesbian rights in general as settled issues, while still toeing the hardline on trans rights and issues. Democrats stay as they are on LGBT issues.

Taxes/Spending: Current status quo remains.

This sounds about right especially on foreign-policy. Overall I think the GOP will become the more anti-automation party unless there's a large tech boom in the Rust Belt as they'll defend the old economy while the Dem's will embrace the new economy. When it comes to social issues, it seems like the origin of social/cultural issues are shifting as well. Most older/middle aged social conservatives are principled as a result of their religious convictions, however while religiosity is declining among millennial's and zoomers, I don't see social issues shifting left. I think the whole "Chad" and anti-SJW vibes will allow social conservatism to continue to dominate for the foreseeable future. This article basically sums that up https://www.newsweek.com/evangelicals-rejecting-jesus-teachings-liberal-talking-points-pastor-1818706.  The biggest question will be which party the wealthy suburbanites end up supporting which will determine the path of taxation. Historically, the wealthy suburbanites had a big sway on the GOP's fiscal policy at least through the Obama era. We're beginning to see more of a divide as younger voters are prioritizing social issues and some older voters in this group continue to be alienated by Trump and Trumpism which played a role in the election of John Fetterman winning over many traditionally conservative areas despite being a Socialist. If many of them become Democrats, I can see Democrat's maintaining the status quo on economics but Republican's moving left as their base becomes almost exclusively WWC and conservative Latino's. If not then I can see Republican's remaining fiscally conservative except for medicaid/medicare/social security, while Dem's move more in a Democratic Socialist direction as WalterWhite suggested.